Lifeguards Attacked by the Local Tourists at Candolim

The beaches in Goa are guarded by the lifeguards deployed by the private agency authorized by the Goa Tourism Department and they are very much there to safeguard the life of people going in deep water. They are trained well by their agencies and very much responsible for the situation around the beach. It is mandatory for the tourist to listen to the instructions given by the lifeguard and follow the same. But recently in an shocking incident Seven lifeguards were allegedly assaulted by a group of 25 Indian tourists at Candolim beach on Wednesday afternoon, after the latter were restrained from swimming in the sea, according to the information made available by some news agencies in Goa The sea has been choppy with tricky undercurrents for the last few days on account of the unseasonal rains and the change in wind patterns.

Sources said the tourists were relentless on getting into the waters, even as the lifeguards tried to talk sense into them, explaining that the waters were too dangerous for swimming. As the subsequent argument took the shape of fight, some tourists became violent and attacked the lifeguards. Though no serious injuries were reported, but following the incident, the 110 lifeguards who serve on the Calangute-Candolim beach belt went on a flash strike demanding that the police to arrest the tourists, some of who claimed to be from the defense forces. This beach stretch attracts most of the desi visitors who flock to Goa.

It is very sad to understand that despite of warnings to not to drink on the beach and even red flag alerts to stay out of the water are often ignored by Indian visitors. Prabhakar Pandey, general manager, Drishti, which manages the lifeguard service on Goa’s beaches, lodged the complaint of the attack on the lifeguards at the Calangute police station. No arrests were made till late evening with sources at Calangute police station saying they were in the process of verifying the correct identities of the assailants and where they had come from, as they were making conflicting statements.

The statements of the lifeguards were recorded and the injured ones were sent for a medical examination. The further investigation is in progress. It is very important for the tourist to understand that the lifeguards are there for your safety and not following the instruction will lead to fatal accident or event death. There are hundreds of cases every year of tourist getting drowned in the water and when such incident occurs it the lifeguard and system is been blamed by the tourist. Government and police department must take severe action against the attackers to stop the repetition of such incident in the future.